Keelah'Selai in Memoriam
by hammerfly
Summary: Ten years after Shepard gives up his body to control the Reapers, Tali is alone and still mourning his loss... But what can break her unending sorrow?


Keelah'Selai in Memoriam

Ten years. It had been ten years since Shepard had walked into that damned beam and left Tali all alone. It had been ten years since she'd smiled. Ten years since she'd heard the voice of her lover, the one person she always knew she could trust. Now, she lived on Rannoch. The homeworld she wouldn't even have without Shepard. "Keelah, everything comes back to him… I can't think of anything without thinking of Shepard…" Tali'Zorah let out a sigh and sat on her bed, mask off and face cradled in her hands to hide the flow of tears that never seemed to stop nowadays. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she stemmed the flow of her sorrow and stood, putting her mask on as she stepped outside of her modest house, right next to where she and Shepard had landed on Rannoch ten years ago… "I kept my promise, Shepard… I stayed alive… Why couldn't you do the same!?" She spoke to herself, and to the heavens themselves, hoping that if Shepard were there, that he'd hear her and give her an answer, anything to put her mind at rest… But no. She'd waited so damn long, and nothing. It was enough to make her lose what little hope, what little faith, what little joy she had once had. She began to walk the stone path down to the beach, like she did every day… Carrying nothing but a rose from Earth, and a handwritten note to her love, in a small bottle. Corked, to keep everything dry, should they ever reach their non-existent destination. She made the journey in mournful silence, respectful silence… Devastated silence. Her eyes closed, having traversed this path every day for ten Earth years. Seeing nothing but darkness, hearing nothing but her footsteps as she walked first across grass, then stone… Then finally sand, as she reached the beach. The beach she'd wanted to show to Shepard so many times. But then that damned Crucible had taken him. And for what? To prove the Illusive Man right? To show that the only way really WAS to control those damned Reapers? She let out a scream of anger and threw the bottle into the sea, not even opening her eyes to see where it went. She heard a loud sound, like glass shattering against metal, and her eyes opened quickly. She let out a loud scream and stumbled backwards, falling into the sand as she looked up at the metal behemoth before her… a Reaper. With what she imagined were its analog for eyes, the great synthetic creature looked down at her, casting her in a slight blue glow. "Get the hell away from me! You're the whole reason Shepard is gone! I never want to see another Reaper in my life!" She screamed in blind fury, overcome by rage at seeing such a monstrosity on Rannoch again, even knowing that the Crucible had made them benevolent. "I don't know what you want, but get out of here! I'm all alone… Because of you and the rest of your damned Reapers!" She turned to run away from the beast, when… It spoke. In Shepard's voice! "No, Tali… I am not gone. I am always here, and always elsewhere… Watching over you, and the galaxy." She turned and looked at the Reaper, the beast that dared imitate her lover. "How dare you use his voice, you monster! I don't know what you are, but you're not Shepard!" She screamed. "No, Tali… This Reaper is not me. I… While on the Crucible, I gave up my body so that I could live on and control the Reapers. It was… The only option available in which I knew you would live. That you would be safe. I would never leave you alone in this world, Tali'Zorah…" The Quarian girl looked down at the sand, and shook her head. "I… I would rather you be alive, and me dead!" She spoke sadly, pain easily audible in her hollow voice. "I could never let that happen, Tali'Zorah… I love you more than anything else, and I could never let you die…" Shepard replied, his voice reverberating through the rocky beach, making it sound like there was an army of him, surrounding Tali on all sides as she pulled off her mask and threw it into the cold, shining ocean, and let her bitter tears fall and stain the sand. "I… I don't believe it's really you, Shepard… But… I want to, so much… Just… Tell me. What did you say to me before we went to Earth?" The girl chose her words carefully, speaking slowly and sadly. "Keelah'Selai, my love… Keelah'Selai." Shepard spoke through the Reaper once more, finally letting the sorrow become audible in his voice. "Tali, know this… I will always be watching over you. And when the inevitable happens, I'll have a place ready for you, right by my side… But until then, I want you to be happy. Love is not lost for you, and you should not mourn me any longer. I am happy with what has transpired for me, and I want you to be happy as well. So please, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, vas Rannoch… Remember me, but continue your life…" The Reaper began to lift out of the water, and Tali looked up in despair as her last connection to Shepard departed. "No, wait, please! Don't leave me again!" She cried out, tears running down her cheeks as she ran into the ocean, watching the metal beast leave, and Shepard's soothing, calming voice with it… She sat down in the ocean, shaking her head sadly, letting his words fill her mind. "Continue my life… Be happy… Okay, Tali. Time to live your life again… For Shepard." She stood up and smiled, pulling her mask from the water as she began the long walk back to her home. She walked slowly, with her eyes wide open. After all, she wouldn't be seeing this place for a while…


End file.
